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Pacific halibutRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 PM · Striped bass
- Now
- 6011 AM PDT
- Best window
- 7 PM-12 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Low3.9 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Hookton Channel scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 11 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: Low slackCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
99Wind: 6 kt NNWPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
56Water temp: 57°F, hotLight: OvercastSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 3.9 ftSeason & habitat · Pacific halibut
Species seasonality
59Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Northern Groundfish Management Area
Pacific halibut
Retention open- Daily limit
- 1 per day
- Possession
- 1 in possession
- Size
- Not published
- Season
- Apr 1 to Nov 15, 2026
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Changes
- Closed from Nov 16
- Other
- Closes early if the California quota is reached. Check the CDFW Pacific halibut page before fishing. When angling, no more than one line with two hooks.
From CDFW Current Ocean Recreational Fishing Regulations, Northern Region (updated August 31, 2026), read Sep 13
Other species here
- Albacore tuna Retention open (25 per day)
- Barred sand bass Retention open (4 per day (5 kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass combined))
- Cabezon Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
- California halibut Retention open (2 per day)
- Chinook salmon Closed (No retention)
- Coho salmon Closed (No retention)
- Kelp bass Retention open (5 per day (5 kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass combined))
- Kelp greenling Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
- Leopard shark Retention open (3 per day)
- Lingcod Retention open (2 per day)
- Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
- Pacific bluefin tuna Retention open (2 per day)
- Rockfish Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
- Sablefish Retention open (10 per day)
- Striped bass Retention open (2 per day)
- Surfperch Retention open (20 per day)
- White seabass Retention open (3 per day)
- Yellowfin tuna Retention open (10 per day)
- Yellowtail Retention open (10 per day)
Source: CDFW · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Pacific halibut is best here
Shoulder season for Pacific halibut · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Hookton Channel
- Depth
- 5-35 ft
- Structure
- Channel · Inner · Semi-exposed
- Season
- Shoulder seasonPacific halibut
NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 464 m grid. Depths are feet below mean sea level, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.
About this spot
Fishing Hookton Channel
Hookton Channel is a channel in Humboldt Bay, California. Depth is 5-35 ft. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are Pacific halibut, rockfish and striped bass. It is peak season now for rockfish, striped bass, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for Pacific halibut, lingcod, California halibut and kelp greenling. Pacific halibut peak from May through July. Rockfish peak from May through September. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- Pacific halibut
- Halibut sit on sand and gravel bottoms near drop-offs, bars and pinnacles, most often in 90 to 500 feet in Alaska and on the shelf off Washington, Oregon and far northern California. Anchor up-current of a likely edge and fish herring, squid, octopus or a salmon head on a circle hook with 24 to 32 ounces of weight, or bounce a large jig on the bottom. The best bite usually comes in the hour around slack tide.
- Rockfish
- Rockfish live on rocky reefs, pinnacles and kelp from the shoreline out past 300 feet, with black and blue rockfish schooling mid-water over shallow reefs and copper, quillback, yelloweye and vermilion sitting tight to deeper bottom. Drift over the structure with a shrimp fly above a lead-head grub or metal jig, or a squid strip, and reel up a few cranks after touching bottom to cut snags. Use a descending device to release any fish brought up from deep water.
- Striped bass
- Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Humboldt Bay63
Bay · 0.8 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 63
- Rockfish 62
- Cabezon 59
6 kt NNWL 12:23 PM · 1.2 ftH 5:25 PM · 4.3 ft
- Buhne Spit Shoal60
Bar · 0.6 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 60
- Pacific halibut 59
- Striped bass 57
6 kt NNWL 12:23 PM · 1.2 ftH 5:25 PM · 4.3 ft
- North Bay Channel60
Channel · 1.7 mi
Top: Pacific halibutShoulder season- Pacific halibut 60
- Striped bass 58
- Cabezon 57
6 kt NNWH 5:06 PM · 6.0 ftL 12:44 AM · 1.0 ft
- Buhne Point59
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: CabezonPeak season- Cabezon 59
- Rockfish 59
- Striped bass 57
6 kt NNWH 4:56 PM · 6.0 ftL 12:42 AM · 1.2 ft
Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with CDFW before you keep a fish.